


i got my heart in my hand

by avosettas



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Dreamtale Nightmare Sans (Undertale), Dreamtale Nightmare Sans/Killer Sans (Undertale), Emotional Manipulation, Empath Nightmare, Killer Sans (Undertale) - Freeform, M/M, but in a Romantic and Consensual way.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-25
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-15 16:47:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29686953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/avosettas/pseuds/avosettas
Summary: The strangest thing is probably how the lump of blankets isshaking, and occasionally jolts with frantic movement near the head of the bed. Somewhere in the room, something rattles in time with its trembles.Really, though, Nightmare finds none of this strange. Coupled with the intense feelings drifting through the emotional leylines of this small universe, it simply means that Killer needs him, and he needs himnow.
Relationships: Sans/Sans (Undertale)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 82





	i got my heart in my hand

**Author's Note:**

> [thumbs up from my position of Lying Face Down on The Floor]

Killer's room is dark, though that isn't strange. It's always dark in this universe, so every room is dark, too. 

No, the strange thing is how tightly the curtains are shut, folded over each other completely, yet clumsily, in order to keep out the bright moonlight. And how the bed, despite often being bare save a messily-placed fitted sheet, is covered in a lump of blankets. 

The strangest thing is probably how the lump is _shaking_ , and occasionally jolts with frantic movement near the head of the bed. Somewhere in the room, something rattles in time with its trembles.

Really, though, Nightmare finds none of this strange. Coupled with the intense feelings drifting through the emotional leylines of this small universe, it simply means that Killer needs him, and he needs him _now_. 

The blankets tremble when Nightmare sits on the edge of the mattress, laying a gentle hand on the ball beside him. "Dear soul," he murmurs, as if trying not to frighten a small animal. "Dear soul." 

Killer throws the blankets back weakly, and only practice keeps Nightmare from startling at his face. His skull is splotchy and flushed with magic, though the pale, red tears leaking from his sockets are mixed with the tar-like substance that Nightmare is more familiar with. 

Still hidden in shadow between the mattress and the blankets, Killer's soul casts a red glow where it hits, though the light wavers with each beat. He doesn't protest when Nightmare plucks it from where it rests above his ribs, only sighs as if a burden has already been lifted, and then rolls onto his back. 

Nightmare watches him carefully, barely touching the organ as it hovers above his hand. Then, he shifts, still cradling Killer's soul as he lays down beside him. 

Killer emerges from his veritable cocoon to grasp Nightmare tightly, kicking off the blankets as he goes. It's not long before he's wrapped up once more, though this time in Nightmare's tentacles, hiding his face in his mate's neck. 

"don't let go," he says, voice quiet and broken. Nightmare almost doesn't hear it. 

"Never," he assures Killer softly, leaning down to press a chaste kiss to the top of his skull. "What do you need?" 

Killer clutches him hard enough that it hurts, and gasps a few times without saying anything. In Nightmare's hand, his soul pulses frantically. The emotions radiating off of it are a horrible cacophony of fear and anxiety and _too much_. If he prods deeper, he knows he'll find underlying, disconnected guilt - an unfortunate constant within Killer's soul. 

"so much," Killer wheezes, a belated response to Nightmare's question. "too much." 

"I know," Nightmare replies, pulling the other closer with his free hand. "What do you need?" 

" _take it_." 

It's all the encouragement Nightmare needs to press his thumb to the center of Killer's soul, drawing out his pesky negative emotions. They're delicious - Nightmare could never deny that, and Killer never made a secret of how proud he was to provide them, even to his own detriment, once he recovered from his breakdowns. 

"Hush," Nightmare tells him when he sobs, the broken sound unwelcome yet invigorating all the same. His own grip slackens, letting Killer's soul hover above his palm again. "Hush," he repeats. "You were wonderful, my soul, you always are." 

Killer is still clinging to him, hiccuping slightly and shivering. His sockets are drooping now, and Nightmare considers telling him to sleep. He decides against it, though, instead pulling one of Killer's hands from its death grip at his back. His hand is warm in Nightmare's, though not quite as warm as his soul. 

"...don't let me stop feeling again, moonlight," he says after a moment. 

"Never," Nightmare responds, barely a beat between their voices. Killer relaxes further against him, breathing shakily.

His emotions have calmed from their frantic storm, though even now, they're at the levels that a normal person might consider simply exhausting. Nightmare sorts through them again, one at time, as Killer trembles. His emotional threshold is much lower than is typical, because of how his magic had reacted to the trauma he'd been through. 

Never in his long, long life has he met anyone else whose soul had actually _detached_ from their physical body due to psychological trauma. Nightmare quite literally holds Killer's life in his hand.

And Killer seems content with that, drowsing not out of relaxation but emotional exhaustion on his chest. Nightmare will never understand how he can allow someone else to hold the culmination of all he is, how he can trust anyone with that. Even his mate. 

Nevertheless, it's not his place to ask. Instead, he drops Killer's soul back into its spot above his sternum, and orders, "Sleep." 

Killer isn't always a rule follower, but for once he listens. His sockets drift close as Nightmare watches, and slowly, the roiling emotions calm. Only then does Nightmare shut his own eyes - if only because there isn't anything else to do but sleep until Killer wakes. 

It's not like Nightmare planned to do anything else besides wait for him to get his rest, anyway.

**Author's Note:**

> twitter @avosettas


End file.
